brillomaster

my 986 does have reassuringly weighty controls... clutch is fairly heavy, brakes need a good shove and steering power assistance is quite light. reminds me of an Nissan 350z i had that had very heavy steering, and a heavy clutch pedal. though it may also be in stark contrast to the car i had before which was a BMW Z4, which, in typical BMW fashion, had very light (electric) steering, a very light clutch and a well assisted brake pedal.

You certainly feel that you are very much part of the driving experience with a boxster!

On 7/4/2021 at 3:58 PM, JonSta said:

As the drone is a harmonic thing people have bought a motorcycle baffle and put it in one side of the system. Because it breaks up the sound wave or possibly more accurately puts the 2 sides out of phase the drone is reduced considerably if not eradicated. If you google it I'm sure you'll find some info. If it works I like the idea of the top gear ebay box because being stainless it's job done forget it. And cheap.

well i can indeed confirm that a couple of 48mm x 140mm motorcycle baffles do fit in the exhaust, and they do completely remove the drone. however... they also remove all the noise from the exhaust when you get on it too, and introduce a weird whistling/whooshing noise. they stayed in for one run before being removed again. though, they did make me realise just how good the ebay exhaust sounds when you're over 3000rpm, its pure heaven. as my car is a weekend driver i can live with a bit of drone at 2500rpm, in exchange for glorious sound over 3000rpm.

Admittedly that was both sides baffled... might try with just one baffle, but the idea of an assymetric exhaust doesnt sit right with me.

Also, if you do buy baffles, dont buy the black ones. it screws with the 5mm bolts, and obviously, shoving a painted item up a hot exhaust pipe causes the paint to melt quite quickly. you'd be better off buying an unpainted baffle and let it coke up naturally.

generally id say yes. there are more questions to be asked, namely, when was the engine replaced, and what mileage and condition was the replacement engine in? was it porsche who replaced the engine under warranty, or was it outside of warranty?

but generally, i'd avoid cars which have had replacement engines. same reason i generally avoid crashed and then repaired cars.

personally, i'd keep the super bit, but ditch the shell bit. my preferred fuel for my 2000 986 S is sainsburys superunleaded, which was £1.39 yesterday.

is it me or does everyone want to race a boxster?

its great when you want to press on - i've come up behind all manner of things and seemingly the second they see a porsche in their rear view mirrors they boot it. one guy in a 520d estate shot off like a rocket, up to 80mph on country roads and i was like fair enough, and then another guy in a fiat 500 also shot off like a scalded rat. 

slightly more annoying are the van drivers who feel the need to try and keep up too. Never noticed this with other 2 seater convertibles i've owned... do people feel they have something to prove when they see a porsche, even a baby porsche?

i think thats the best approach... have a contingency fund, be aware that some big bills might come your way, but buy a car that appears to have been regularly maintained and then keep to the maintenance schedule yourself.

my recently acquired 986 S doesnt have any evidence of a IMS change, or a clutch change, and its on 73000 miles now. i figure, the car is over 20 years old now, so if the IMS bearing was going to cause a problem, it would have done so by now, so im not going to change it now as a preventative measure. And as for the clutch, well, it could go in the next 1000 miles, but equally it could run on for another 5 years/15,000 miles without any problems. if the clutch does go, i may look to do the IMS bearing then, but certainly not before.

I also bought it at a price point i was happy with should something go catastrophically wrong, i dont have too much invested.

12 hours ago, Brian B said:

Thanks Brillomaster - and thanks for the better price!

So at least it's not a con. And at £170 it looks like a decent option vs £200+ for a rusty used unit even as a stopgap until budget permitted something else.

On balance would you recommend? Ta

If your car is your daily driver, and does any urban driving, then on balance, i probably wouldn't recommend the ebay one. mine is just a weekend b road blaster, and every time i start it i think 'wow thats loud' and then when trying (and failing) to drive quietly through a village, i feel everyone is watching me go past thinking whos the twonk in the poor mans porsche.

but it all comes good when the NSL sign appears, and you can stretch the legs in 3rd a bit 😉

dont suppose you're anywhere near leamington spa are you? if so you're welcome to come over and hear mine fitted...

PS heres another £20 off that exhaust here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184155667855?epid=22033524457&hash=item2ae0887d8f:g:Z9AAAOSwXFJgdAva

or you could risk this one:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255022473350?hash=item3b60862086:g:DBgAAOSwK0Fgzdf5

ah yes, the ebay drone master special... just had one of them fitted to mine, and its definitely loud. and between 2500-3000rpm it definitely drones.

does sound glorious when you're over 3000rpm though.

Can i answer about my 986? No, its not a keeper. its a 'dip a toe in the water' car for me for mid engined cars, and porsches in general. i've already found a few drawbacks to a 986 which would be rectified for a 987 if i decided to upgrade to that in a few years (namely the seating position, steering wheel adjustment and interior)

I think i'm going to have my 986 either 2-3 years if i then upgrade to a 987 (which then might be a keeper) or 5 years if i decide to jump straight to a dream car for me, which is a manual Audi R8 V8.

Don't really get N rated tyres. Michelin PS2s are well outdated now, having been replaced by supersports, and then by MPS4S. which is comparable with GY F1 5s, which arent n rated.

20 years ago maybe N rated tyres were important, but tyre tech has moved on so far, id rather just fit the best tyre currently available, and not worry about whether it is N rated.

is the california with turbos or without? if its turbocharged that might explain the lack of aural enjoyment, same with the M2.

personally, i've never been a fan of the sounds of V8s... i've always preferred a 6 cylinder. i've have straight sixes in both naturally aspirated and turbocharged forms (both BMWs) and V6s in both naturally aspirated and turbocharged forms (both Nissans) and now i have a flat 6.

Personally, i think the naturally aspirated flat 6 in the porsche trumps everything. a straight 6 is almost too smooth for its own good, and a V6 is almost too operatic.

having not long had my 986, i assumed the reluctance between 1st and 2nd is just the character of having a 20 year old gearbox. but it definitely improves when its warm.

during my next service i think i'll get the gearbox oil changed since its a pretty cheap addition to a service cost, and i've no idea when it was last changed, if at all.

and as for IMS and all that jazz - well, i figure if the engine has made it to 20 years old and its still working, whatever is in there is probably fine. but i'll keep to my maintenance schedule and change the engine oil every year (likely 2000 miles a year tops) and every time i go out the car gets a good workout so... hopefully it'll stay that way.

just fitted some new car mats to replace the aging, ludicrously thick pile grey ones that were in there when i bought it. a mere £16 delivered, perfect fit, and now a far more sporty thinner black carpet.

maybe next month it'll get a wash too, looking fairly filthy at the moment...

nope, my 986 S is definitely a weekend car. my daily commute (when it starts happening again) is a simple 20-25 minute jaunt down the motorway, perfect diesel automatic territory. plus, the dronemaster special i've just put on would be horrible during a motorway commute.

id think all the things i like about the 986 (loud, sporty, revs, manual gearbox) would lose their appeal if i used it as a daily. No, i prefer to keep it for special occasions, and make every journey in it an event. Plus it'll keep the value high if i keep the miles off it.

i'm considering moving to 245/40/R17 on the rear (and a 225/45/R17 front), doesn't seem to be a lot of choice in a 255/40/R17 these days. Though, will try and do a trackday first so i can really get a feel for how the car behaves, and what the balance is. i suspect a 205 front and 255 rear will promote a lot of understeer when pushed.

i'm gonna start the bidding at 9 bags. 2 in the rear boot, 4 in the passenger seat area and 3 in the frunk.

in all my years of motoring, i've never had a renewal price come through cheaper than the year before, despite obviously being a year older and usually with a years extra NCB. Though whats funny now is that insurers have to tell you what it was the year before, so you can see exactly how much they are attempting to fleece you by if you let a policy auto renew.

anyways, it seems for my boxster, esure are once again cheapest - 34 years old, 2 years no claims (most of my no claims are on my daily driver) 4000miles a year, £250. 

might well be attempting a seat swap soon myself. the roof will definitely be down. wasnt going to disconnect the battery, but was going to make sure the key was not in the ignition when i disconnect the electrics.

as for the e12 torx socket, picked me up some of these in advance:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00477ANSG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

how many miles are you planning on doing? i've just bought a 986 boxster on 73000 miles, no evidence of any clutch or IMS work. but on the other hand. i'm only planning on doing 3000 miles a year, and its my second car, so theres every possibility i'll be selling it in 5 years on 88000 miles, still without having done the clutch.

Personally, i wouldn't do the clutch as a preventative maintenance item. I'd fix it if/when it starts breaking.

And as for IMS, from what i understand is even if the grease goes, it continues to be lubricated by the engine oil. so the preventative action here is oil changes every 6000 miles, or every year, whichever is sooner.

interested to know this too. have done plenty of trackdays in other cars and never had a problem with oil starvation, even when using track tyres. Hoping porsches arent known for having oil starvation issues, though that would be a LOT of a fail on porsches part if a sportscar couldn't handle sporty driving...